In the glow of Thursday night's last-second win over the Steelers in Paycor Stadium's electric White-Out Album, Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco couldn't quite remember if one of his previous 201 games had been in Cincinnati during prime time.

Indeed, it had. Seven years ago. It, too, was a Thursday nighter, the one where A.J. Green beat Flacco's Ravens with three touchdowns in the first 17 minutes. Flacco's last win at Paycor had been longer ago than that, in the 2017 opener. His last fourth-quarter comeback win over the Steelers? Longer than that. 2015.

Offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher, in his 10^th season with the Bengals, mused Monday it's as if Flacco has packed all of that into his first two Bengals starts within nine days of his arrival.

"He's walked in here and it is almost like he walked in here and has known us for a decade," said Pitcher after Monday's walkthrough prepping for Sunday (1-p.m.-Cincinnati's Local 12) and the Jets at Paycor. "I think that is just the experience and having been in the biggest moments and lived so many highs and so many lows and a life in football.

"As cool as the other night was, and as well as he is playing, it is a guy who started (197) games or whatever it is, he's started a season's worth of playoff football games. He's seen it all, done it all. I think you just feel that from him. There's very few people in the world that ever gain enough experience to actually live that. He's in that category. So, to me, I think that's probably the most impressive thing."

Pitcher also thinks it's impressive enough to help Bengals Pro Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow. No one knows when Burrow (turf toe) is going to be back, but Flacco is here to make sure that when he does, there's a playoff spot at stake.

"Guys like Joe Flacco, there aren't that many of them and how many times will Joe Burrow get a chance to share a meeting room with that guy, share a practice field with that guy?" Pitcher asked. "I don't know. I know I've learned stuff being around him and it's an experience that will inform how I coach and think about the game and the type of skills and approach that I value at that position. I think, sure, anybody that spends some time with him could take something away."

Small World

The Jets also have a worldly vet quarterback that Flacco knows well. Tyrod Taylor, who came off the bench in the second half Sunday in New Jersey but couldn't pull it out for Justin Fields in a 13-6 loss to the Panthers, spent his first four seasons in the league as an understudy to Flacco in the Ravens quarterback room.

A 2011 sixth-round pick of Baltimore, Taylor is a 36-year-old kid in this potential matchup with the 40-year-old Flacco. But he's been around long enough that when old friend Andy Dalton came off the bench for Carolina Sunday, it was a rematch of Bengals-Bills games played at Paycor in 2016-17 that they split.

And as every Cincy schoolkid knows, Taylor was the Chargers quarterback who came into Paycor and barely beat Burrow in his debut in the 2020 COVID opener before a crowd of zero.

So if Taylor gets the call (Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said Monday that he's undecided), there is a history that has left an impression on another Taylor. In this league of quarterback roulette, Fields came off the bench to relieve Dalton in Chicago and beat Burrow in 2021.

"Professional," said Bengals head coach Zac Taylor Monday of Tyrod Taylor. "He can be a playmaker with his feet. I've seen him kill people with his feet before. He does a great job picking up first downs. He can be an aggressive thrower. He can make all the throws. I'm flashing back to all the times I've seen him play over the years. A lot of respect for him."

Bengals rookie linebacker Barrett Carter, who figures to get his third start with the helmet mic, says they're prepping for both Taylor and Fields.

"You have to be aware of both. Especially because they've just taken out Justin Fields, and put in Tyrod Taylor," Carter said. "You have to study both and pick up on their tendencies. You have to know about both. I wouldn't say (it's hard) at all because every other opponent, I'm aware who the backup quarterback is, so it doesn't really change anything."

Fields doesn't have a win over the Bengals, but he's had two killing first downs against them to secure wins in the last moments. Last year, the Steelers lined him up at quarterback in place of Russell Wilson on third-and-four with 1:54 left and the Bengals looking to hand the ball over to Burrow for a late winning touchdown. But he never got the ball back when Fields kept for seven yards.

"We know both guys can run," Carter said. "You have to be aware of it."

The C on the Chest

Carter spent Monday talking about the leaders on his side of the ball. Starting with the captains, linebacker Logan Wilson, defensive tackle B.J. Hill, and All-Pro edge Trey Hendrickson.

"Great maturity, great leadership. And guys are aware in this league that you have to correct your mistakes and have to move to the next opponent," Carter said. "I think it's just a testament to our leadership on this team. Obviously, Logan. Captain. B.J. Trey. Geno (Stone). Jordan (Battle). I've seen glimpses of leadership from everybody."

Carter has a huge responsibility making the calls and setting the defense. A leader, but that's all.

"You're not a captain until you get the C patch on your chest," Carter said. "Until your teammates vote that. It's an honor to be the green dot and it's an honor to lead these guys that way. But you're not a true captain until you have that patch on your chest."

Slants and Screens

The Bengals returned Monday from the mini-bye weekend to Flacco's most normal week as a Bengal. He had four days to prepare for his first Bengals' start and three days to prepare for his second. Monday's walkthrough on Day 13 to start a Sunday 1.p.m. week must have seemed like a holiday.

"I think it's probably a little more normal. Today is a good day just to catch up on some odds and ends and things that could come up," Zac Taylor said. "That's where I think the walkthrough, whether the players realized it or not, it was a good focus on some things we want to revisit this week.

"A couple things just to kind of catch (Flacco) up to speed on some of the basic things we didn't get a chance to hone in on, just so he could hear it once and call it once and feel like you check that box and are accountable for it moving forward." …

The Bengals had their best rushing day of the season against the Steelers with running backs Chase Brown and Samaje Perine splitting 18 carries for 139 yards. But Pitcher says they actually called six or seven more runs that turned into passes.

"It's all the same play. It's a run play. The quarterback is handing the ball off. One guy is running the ball. So you have nine more guys, right?" Pitcher said.

"You can give all nine of those guys a blocking assignment or you can give eight of those guys a blocking assignment and give one guy a route. And then the quarterback gets to see if that one guy has a good look for the route, he can take it … A handful of those in just about every game are runs that got called runs and the quarterback made a decision to throw it."

One of them went for a touchdown when wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase turned a run into their first touchdown of the game, converting Flacco's loft on an eight-yard fade past a protesting Jalen Ramsey …